Exhibit 31.1

                  CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF
                       THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Merrill W. Sherman, certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Bancorp Rhode
Island, Inc.;

2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this report;

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
report;

4.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and we
have:

      (a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
            known to us by others within those entities, particularly during
            the period in which this report is being prepared;

      (b)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
            controls and procedures and presented in this report our
            conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
            and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
            report, based on our evaluation; and

      (c)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
            control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
            fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
            materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
            affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
            reporting; and

5.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board
of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):

      (a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
            design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
            which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
            ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
            information; and

      (b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting.

Date:  May 11, 2004


   /s/ Merrill W. Sherman
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Merrill W. Sherman
President and
Chief Executive Officer